In the Long Run

While we were on our European vacation, we covered a lot of country in the tube, on buses, and on trains. We also walked a lot of miles. I wore my pedometer faithfully, and recorded the steps for each day. Even on our “lightest” day, a Sunday when we attended Church, we walked over 6 miles.

The most we walked was in Moscow on July 30^th when we pitter-pattered 31,399 steps. That’s over 15 miles. On that particular day, we went to a flea market, several parks, churches, a palace, and a Soviet era Expo. Many of the pictures in this blog are of the exposition buildings which are grand and elaborate, and extol the accomplishments of the Soviet Union.

After touring the expo, my son pointed out a very large tower in the distance, which he had heard was the second tallest free-standing structure in the world. He wanted to ride to the top.
It didn’t look to be as far away as it turned out to be. We walked over an hour to reach the tower, only to learn that public tours and rides to the top were no longer available. Disappointed and tired, we tried to figure out where we were. My son was sure a metro stop couldn’t be far away.

We walked probably 4 or 5 more miles through some sketchy neighborhoods and business areas before we found one. We rode back to Mendelevskaya Station our stop,(note the décor of that metro stop, and perhaps you can figure out for whom it is named) and trudged the additional mile to our apartment. My son made us dinner: pelmeni and cheesy bread, watermelon and ice cream. Traditional, tasty, and terrific to renew our energy after walking our many miles in Moscow.

Posted by Cyppy at 7:37 PM  3 comments

In Rome we were intrigued by one specific ruin in the center of the city which was home to many wild cats. A posted sign detailed the humane, but not totally effective, efforts to control the cat population there. Click on the picture to enlarge it, and look carefully to find a few felines.

In Russia, there were quite a few wild dogs running around, often in packs of three or four. It was one such dog that threatened my Key Limey. The dog first snarled and charged toward my son and me, who were walking a short distance ahead of KL. We quickly moved away in another direction, and avoided eye contact. KL however, stopped and faced the dog, which apparently viewed this as a direct challenge. True to Russian form, this dog would not back down, or turn tail and flee the fight. Instead, the animal lunged forward at KL.

He was a large, German Shepherd-mutt-mix, and he growled at my Key Limey and snapped at him from barely two feet away. He seemed fiercer and more threatening than our next door neighbors’ dogs, (the Hounds from Hell) particularly since there was no protective fence between him and KL.

“Walk away before he bites you!” I yelled out the obvious to my husband. “I’ve had too many dog bites from dogs I turned my back on,” he replied, warily trying to inch backward without further antagonizing the dog. They continued their cold war stare-down. After a few tense moments, the dog gave one last alpha male snarl and turned away triumphantly when my husband had retreated back far enough to be out of his territory. Crisis averted.

I wanted to pet a dog I saw in the Russian metro station when I saw everyone else doing it. My son had pointed out a bronze statue of a hunter and his dog. The nose and the leg of the dog were smooth, and shiny, worn down by the constant caressing of passers-by who apparently stroke the dog for good luck. Simple enough, and maybe it works!

Posted by Cyppy at 9:04 PM  4 comments

My Bavarian clock finally arrived, and I coaxed KL into unpacking and assembling it. He asked me where I wanted to hang it, and suggested my office. “Well, maybe I should put it someplace where everyone can enjoy it,” I said. So first I thought I’d put it in the kitchen, but there wasn’t a wall that could accommodate the long chains. The dining room, or a spot at the top of the stairs had possibilities, but it seemed a cuckoo clock placed there might compete with the grandfather clock. Downstairs—definitely out of the question.

“The sunroom?” my son suggested. “No…not the right feel…” I shook my head. “Maybe my office.” My husband, with polite exasperation, commented that that was where he had proposed to put it in the first place.

Once in my office, the choices and decisions began anew. On the window wall, or by the pictures on the west wall? How high? Was it centered? “This is worse than rearranging furniture,” my husband muttered, as I finally approved the drill hole mark.

Although I nearly drove my Key Limey cuckoo in the process, my clock now elegantly graces my office wall. Its delicate edelweiss and gentian flowers remind me of the lovely German countryside that we thoroughly enjoyed on our trip.

Posted by Cyppy at 9:12 PM  4 comments

We learned very quickly in Europe that water is hard to come by.

Bottled water is expensive and is often carbonated, and warm. It rankled me that water was not offered with meals at restaurants, and that we had to pay over four euros ($5.50) for a carafe of plain ole H20.









So we bought acqua at outrageous “captive tourist” prices, until we finally got smart and saved the plastic bottles. We filled them at our apartment, and carried them during the day in a very conspicuous purple bag, a gift given to us by our landlady, Sylvie, in Paris.

In Rome, when the temperatures were in the triple digits, we left the apartment one day carrying eight bottles of water between the two of us—including the liter bottle in the picture with my very thirsty Key Limey.

The Europeans seemed stingy with their drinking water, so I thought it was ironic to note the copious amounts of water used for flushing toilets. Seems to me there could be a trade off: less water in the WC, and more accessible, potable water for drinking.

Posted by Cyppy at 7:00 PM  3 comments

We’re back! We survived two grueling trans-Atlantic flights, lousy exchange rates, hostile subway riders, expensive yet unsanitary WCs, exhausting sightseeing, unrelenting street vendors, one faulty voltage converter, several close calls crossing busy streets, an Italian brouhaha on a late-night bus, borsch, a non-functioning debit card, a dearth of potable water, one very big pinkie toe blister, night trains with no morning shower, helplessness due to language deficiencies, one extremely bossy landlady, miles of walking with our carry-on backpacks, phone card frustrations, two or three dousing thunderstorms, a wild dog attack, the long line to see Lenin, downgraded accommodations, blistering 102 degree heat, walking the perimeter of an entire country in blistering 102 degree heat, getting hopelessly lost several times, intimidating Russian reprimands for (among other things) breaking an ATM, a German laundromat, a bawdy and unseemly bike tour guide, losing and finding an indispensable sweater, dozens of mispronounced and misunderstood words, a camera battery that needed constant recharging, being together 24-7 for nearly three weeks…………………………………

………………..AND WE LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!

Posted by Cyppy at 8:34 PM  4 comments